Great spirits among the Austrian crowd were ensured by local racers Christian Klien in the McLaren 720S GT3, Mick Wishofer in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo plus Simon Reicher and Norbert Siedler of Austrian team Eastalent-Racing with an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. Norbert Siedler was the fastest Austrian in the first free practice session on Friday. “We haven’t had much time to test with the new team so far. With the basic setup from Audi, things actually went well right away. In terms of top speed, we are a bit disadvantaged. It won’t be easy at the Red Bull Ring in particular. In the last sector we are right on it. In the first and second, we’re about half a second down, as we’re six to eight km/h too slow. Nevertheless, the clear aim is to get into the top 10 and to be able to do battle with the top teams”, said Siedler.
In the second practice, newcomer Christian Klien sensationally recorded the best time. “As a team and also for me as a driver, it’s great to be competing in the GT Masters for the first time. Having a home race at the Red Bull Ring was, of course, also a decisive factor in my decision. The Red Bull Ring is always fun to drive on, especially in a GT3 car. I like the feeling of driving in the McLaren, it feels a bit like a formula car. We are very pleased with it, and we have a good pair of drivers. When it comes to top speed, we’re not the ones to catch, as the competition has speculated, but the aim is to finish in the top five. We definitely want to go on the attack!”, said Klien.
Mick Wishofer was fifth in the second practice. “We haven’t had much time to test with the new team so far. With the basic setup from Audi, things actually went well right away. In terms of top speed, we are a bit disadvantaged. It won’t be easy at the Red Bull Ring in particular. In the last sector we are right on it. In the first and second, we’re about half a second down, as we’re six to eight km/h too slow. Nevertheless, the clear aim is to get into the top 10 and to be able to do battle with the top teams.”
